Maple Leaf
The maple leaf is a symbol of Canada, and is prominently featured on the flag. The maple is important in many ways, both to the land and the economy. Canada has ten native species of maple, with the most common being the sugar maple, found through eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Maples can range from shrubs, like the vine maple which can grow to 33 feet (10 meters) tall, to very tall trees, like the big leaf maple which can get 131 feet (40 meters) tall. Maples are well known for their colors in the autumn. The maples in eastern Canada usually turn a vibrant red and orange, and the bigleaf maple in the west typically turns bright yellow. Maples are important members of an ecosystem. Pollinators like bees and hummingbirds sip their nectar; squirrels, chipmunks, and mice enjoy their fruit and seeds; and deer and moose eat their leaves. Maple sugaring was likely developed by the Indigenous Peoples, as they sold maple syrup in large quantities to Europeans as they arrived. Now Canada is the world’s largest producer of maple syrup and maple food products, with Quebec contributing the vast majority. Early Indigenous People used maple wood, which is hard with a fine grain, for many purposes. Today the wood is used by artisan woodworkers and for furniture and floors.
Beaver
Did you know that the beaver is almost the largest rodent in the world? At up to 4.3 feet (1.3 meters) long and 70.5 pounds (32 kilograms) in weight, it’s definitely the largest in North America, and is second only to the capybara worldwide. The beaver is an official symbol of Canada, representing the nation’s core values of hard work, resilience, and resourcefulness. It appears on the 5 cent coin and in the Parks Canada logo (see below). Beavers are herbivorous mammals, and also engineers: They build dams, canals, and lodges to provide still and deep water to protect themselves, and are one of the only species of animals to do so. The largest beaver structure in the world is visible from satellite and estimated to have a surface area of 753,000 square feet (70,000 square meters). Beavers live partially in water. Their thick fur is waterproofed by an oil in their skin, and insulates them against the cold. This is so effective that beavers can swim for around six minutes underwater without getting their skin wet! Beavers’ tails have little fur and help them both in water (as a propeller and a rudder) and on land (as a prop to help them stand). Beavers’ teeth are incredibly strong, allowing them to cut down trees and carry branches while they swim. Their teeth keep growing throughout their entire lives.
National Parks
Canada has 37 national parks and 11 national park reserves. There is at least one national park in each province or territory, and they protect natural treasures: mountains, plains, forests, tundra, lakes, and glaciers. In total, 132,579 square miles (343,377 square kilometers) across Canada are subject to protection, and the parks range in size from the 5.4 square miles (14 square kilometers) of the Georgian Bay Islands National Park to the nearly 17,375 square miles (45,000 square kilometers) of the Wood Buffalo National Park. Parks Canada manages all the parks, and restricts usage to protect them for future generations. Park reserves are managed similar to national parks, but these are under Indigenous land claims. While protections are in place, Indigenous People may continue to use the land for traditional hunting, trapping, and fishing.
Euchre
Euchre (pronounced YOU-ker) is a card game that is usually played with four people in two partner pairs. There are regional variations, but in the most common Canadian version, the game uses the 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace cards of all four suits in a standard deck of playing cards. The team who reaches 10 points first wins the game. Five cards (20 out of the 24) are dealt to each player; then the dealer turns up the top card of the remaining four, and all the players have a turn when they can choose that suit as trump. If it is chosen, the dealer picks up the card and discards another card from his hand. A special feature of the Canadian version is that if the dealer’s partner calls trump, they are required to play a loner (without their partner’s help). If all players pass on the suit turned up, each player has a turn to call trump with any other suit. If nobody wants to call trump, some rules call to “stick the dealer” (make the dealer decide); other rules end the hand and it is redealt. Once trump is determined, the Jack of the trump suit is called the “right bauer,” and is the most powerful card. The Jack of the same color is the “left bauer,” the second most powerful. Then the cards proceed Ace, King, Queen, 10, and 9. The trump suit is always the most powerful, but if a suit is led, it must be followed unless the player doesn’t have any cards of that suit. Euchre is a strong tradition in the north to pass hours of inclement weather in great camaraderie and competition.
Loons
Loons are strongly associated with Canada. Although they are not the national bird—the Canada Jay is—loons are even commemorated on the one dollar coin, called a “loonie.” The loon is the official bird of the province of Ontario. Loons are found in every Canadian province, mainly around lakes and wetlands during the summer, migrating to oceans for the winter. They eat mainly fish and can dive to depths of 246 feet (75 meters)! Many associate their haunting call with fond memories of the north. For some Indigenous Peoples, the loon symbolizes old hopes, wishes, and dreams.
Hockey
Hockey is for Canadians what football (soccer) is for many other countries in the world, and is the country’s official national winter sport. Hockey almost always means ice hockey (as opposed to field hockey) and is played year round in Canada at every skill level. It is one of the most popular sports for youth, and many cities have both year-round indoor rinks, as well as outdoor ice rinks during the cold winter months. While influenced by several stick and ball games from the United Kingdom as well as Indigenous games, modern hockey was born in eastern Canada. The first indoor hockey game was played in Montreal in 1875, organized by a McGill University student from Halifax, Nova Scotia, who brought the Maritimes’ rules into the game(the Maritimes are the northeast provinces of Canada). Hockey is primarily a winter sport, but indoor rinks have made it possible to train, play, and compete year round. Both men and women play hockey, and documented games by women date back to the 1880s in Ontario. Today, three of the six women’s professional teams are in Canada, and Canadian players are on the rosters of professional teams around the world.
Forest Fires
In the summer of 2024, Jasper National Park and the town of Jasper, Alberta were badly damaged by wildfires. It was the worst wildfire in the area for more than a hundred years, and damaged more than 124 square miles (320 square kilometers). There was tremendous damage to the town and park areas, but fortunately there remains so much that is still beautiful and worth seeing. At the time of writing (summer 2025), many areas are opening up again. Unfortunately, wildfires caused considerable damage in other Canadian provinces during the summer of 2025. While the 2024 Jasper fire was started by lightning, campers and visitors to natural areas need to be aware of the risk of forest fires and do their part to prevent them. When campfires are allowed, keeping them in designated areas is essential to preserve beautiful places, and human and animal lives.
Bannock
Bannock, a simple bread, traces its origin through Scotland and the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. The name comes from the Gaelic word bannach. It is believed that the Scottish fur traders brought the recipe over in the 18th and 19th centuries; then Indigenous Peoples adopted it and adapted it with local ingredients. It can be roasted on a pan, fried in an iron skillet over a fire, or even put on sticks and roasted over a campfire. While many modern recipes use all-purpose wheat flour, bannock can also be made with corn or nut meal or flour ground from plant bulbs. The recipe starts with water, flour, baking soda, lard or oil, and sugar or salt. Additional ingredients can include whatever is on hand: eggs, berries, raisins and cinnamon, milk, even lichens! Hunters and trappers could survive for weeks with a bag of flour by eating bannock over the fire at night, and variations are still important today at celebrations and events of the First Nations.
Bears in the Canadian Rockies
You might have noticed that the campsites have bear safes. Jasper is home to two species of bears: The grizzly bear weighs up to 551 pounds (250 kilograms) , and the black bear weighs up to 375 pounds (170 kilograms). While 'ittle Bear is cute and cuddly and loves hugs, real bears in the wild should be respected. Humans should both keep a distance of at least 328 feet (100 meters), and avoid inviting bears to approach, particularly by leaving food out or inadequately storing it. Bears have an acute sense of smell and while their natural diet is mainly berries, roots, and other plants, they will also scavenge the easiest food they can find. Unfortunately, bears that develop tastes for human food and frequent areas like campgrounds and picnic areas may need to be put down. Campers should never have food in their tents either, as the fabric of tents poses little obstacle to bears’ sharp claws. Bear safes are the best way to store food, but in the backcountry, you can also hang a backpack high from a tree branch.
Sunflowers
While 'ittle Bear sees sunflowers in Saskatchewan, most Canadian sunflowers are grown in Manitoba. Canada is third in the world’s sunflower production behind Ukraine and Russia. Sunflowers, their seeds, and the oil produced from them have been important contributions to Canadian agriculture. Evidence suggests that wild sunflowers originated and were cultivated by Indigenous People in Arizona and New Mexico around 3000 BCE. Spanish explorers brought the sunflower to Europe, where it became a major agricultural product for Ukraine and Russia in the 19th century. The cultivation of sunflowers in Canada came with Mennonite settlers from today’s Ukraine. Manitoba produces more than 90 percent of Canada’s sunflowers, with the rest from Saskatchewan and the southern parts of Alberta and Ontario. Did you know that sunflowers are what is called heliotropic, meaning that the plants follow the sun from east to west during the day, and return to face east overnight? They do this during their early growth phase up until they bloom. At that point, their energy is focused on pollination rather than growth, and most remain facing east.
Athabasca
The word Athabasca likely comes from an anglicized version of the Woods Cree word, āthap-āsk-ā-w, which means “grass or reeds found here.” The Athabasca River has played an important role for the Indigenous Cree and Dene people throughout history. Today, it is the main travel route to their traditional lands, and provides natural resources supporting life. Since the days of early settlers, fur from beavers and muskrats has provided warmth as well as means for income back to early settler days. The abundant fish and wildlife have provided food for generations. Treaty No. 8, signed in 1899, protects the Cree and Dene people’s right to hunt, fish, and trap in the Athabasca region to sustain their traditional livelihood in return for sharing resources and land with Canada.
Canadian Provinces, Territories, and Languages
Canada has provinces, and also has three large territories. The Constitution grants authority to the provinces, and the Canadian Parliament delegates authority to territories. Practically, this means that provinces have more control and autonomy than territories over areas like healthcare, education, and welfare. Both provinces and territories have capital cities and government; it is the authority and autonomy of the government that differs. There are 10 provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The territories are Northwest, Nunavut, and Yukon. The two largest provinces, Ontario and Quebec, have around 85 percent of the total Canadian population. French is the official language of Quebec, although legislation is in both English and French. New Brunswick is the only province to have both English and French as official languages. English is the official language for Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. Nova Scotia recognizes the Indigenous language Mi’kmawi’simk as the first language and recognizes both Acadian (French Canadian) and Canadian Gaelic. The remaining provinces do not have an official language, but are primarily English speaking. The territory of Nunavut has two official Indigenous languages, and the Northwest Territories has nine.
Mounties
This is the common name for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), or Gendarmerie de Canada (GRP) in French, which is the national police force of Canada. RCMP have jurisdiction in all provinces and territories, and are responsible for the enforcement of federal laws. Besides their importance as law enforcement, they are also an unofficial national symbol of Canada, and the vast majority of Canadians view the RCMP as important to their national identity. They wear special uniforms and participate in royal ceremonies, often on horseback.
Jasper
Jasper is both a city and a national park located in Alberta. The national park is part of the UNESCO Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site and is known for many things, including its extensive network of trails, its abundant wildlife, and being the world’s second largest dark sky preserve. There are so many wonderful things to do within the park, including the hiking and camping that 'ittle Bear and Barry experienced. Jasper has many ways to camp, from fairly luxurious RV or car camping to primitive backcountry. There are glaciers and ice fields to explore, but it’s important to only attempt this with appropriate gear, guides, and training! The many different trails range from gentle to rugged. Lastly, you can enjoy nature’s spa with the Miette Hot Springs, where water leaves the mountain at 129° F (54° C) and is cooled to a cozy 104° F (40° C) in the pool. What better way to relieve aching muscles after a long hike? Don’t forget to enjoy a night of stargazing, made spectacular by efforts to reduce light pollution. Come to Jasper in October for the Dark Sky Festival to see night as it was before electricity.
Banff
We mention Banff as 'ittle Bear’s next stop. While we couldn’t fit in a visit here within the story, we at least wanted to mention a bit about this beautiful park to the southwest of Jasper, also in the province of Alberta near the British Columbia border. Banff was Canada’s first national park and is also part of the UNESCO Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. It is known for its beautiful glacial lakes. Maybe you have heard of Lake Louise and Moraine Lake? In this subarctic climate, there are so many things that can be done around Banff: skiing (cross-country and downhill), horseback riding, mountain biking, hiking, and paddling, to name just a few. The daring can even scuba dive in Lake Minnewanka at 4,757 feet (1,450 meters) above sea level. Banff has two historic hotels, Banff Springs and Chateau Lake Louise, that were built by the Canadian Pacific Railway. These were instrumental in building international appeal for the area through extensive marketing campaigns. No matter what time of year you visit, there will be breathtaking views and plenty to do and experience.
Metric System
The system of measurement changes when you cross the long border between the United States and Canada. Canada aligns with the majority of the world in using the metric system with its International System (SI) of Units for official measurements. The transition to the metric system from the imperial system that originated in England occcured in 1970, so some individuals may still refer to imperial measurements in conversation. As Canada shares such a long border with the US, and many people cross over by car, signs help remind visitors about the change and even provide approximate translations. Some common SI units are:
To make measurements scale with size, the metric system has prefixes that determine the factor (or power) of 10. For example, while the meter is the basic unit for distance, you would need large numbers to measure the distance between cities. Instead, the kilometer (factor of 1,000, power of 103) allows the distance to be communicated in reasonable numbers between 1-1,000.
